The Love I Never Knew
by Hatter and Hare Productions
Summary: Rapunzel, on the eave of her first political meeting, is ready to huddle up in a cave and die. Perhaps a little help from an older princess is required?


_**The Love I Never Knew  
><strong>_By the March Hare

"Worst day, ever!"

Rapunzel had been on edge all morning, sick to the stomach, and more jumpy than a rabbit on speed. First meetings had always been hard on her, and this was probably/most likely/was going to make it in the top 3 most feared in her life. Sure, meeting her real parents was most certainly the hardest moment of her life, but at least she had Eugene with her. Now, it was only her, and her alone, in one of the most dangerous political moves of her life.

She was to meet the other Disney Princesses for the first time.

Sure, some of you are laughing your butts off right now (or just thinking "WTF?") but for Rapunzel, it was down-right serious business. This was not to have tea, idle gossip, and girly games, but to discuss land boundaries, laws, relations, trade rights, military, technology, agreements, every bit of royal madness that had been getting shoved down her throat since she had become the princess of Corona. She was to curtsy, she was to stand up straight, she was to be all proper-like, she was to be polite (even if the other princess was acting like a _**'bleep'**_), and above all else, she was to represent the newly found nation of Corona and to gain its respect and acknowledgment as a noble and (most importantly) powerful nation not to be trifled with.

She was ready to vomit.

Did I forget to mention she had slept in for most of the morning, and had nearly forgotten about the meeting?

Blurring through the room in a flash of pink, she bolted around, her mind flashing through all the things she would need.

"Shoes," she said as she grabbed a pair of high-heeled cash suckers fresh from the box. She had just bought them, and she had never felt up to wearing shoes until (BOOOM!) she needed to.

"Crown." She snatch the delicate thing and near smashed it on her head. Bouncing around so much that Tigger would of that he had found his soul mate-

(*Author's note: ONE-SHOT IDEA!)

-she dashed to the vanity, plopping down in the seat and bruising her behind in one swift motion. "Ow!" she squealed, "This is got to be-" she grumbled, habitually picking up a brush and dropping it when she realized she did not have to comb 70 feet of hair anymore ("Thank God!"). Her hair was still a mess, but it could wait. "The worse day-" she continued, applying foundation at a pace that could cause tornadoes, "Of my-"

Three knocks came upon her door, spaced out like the ringing the bells of Notre Dame.

"_**WHAT!" **_Rapunzel's left eye twitched in anger as she turned around and yelled with all her might. She instantly regretted it, as her vocal chords felt like they nearly got ripped out with the force of plane crash.

The door slowly opened, creaking ever so slightly, to let in the willowy form of a woman, garbed in a blue dress, gracefully, almost ethereally walking into the painted castle room of the princess of Corona. Her feet were left unshod, her skin was smooth and alabaster white, and her body was left untouched of any form of corruption or defilement. Blond, curly hair bounced behind her Hellenistic head. In her arms was a simple wicker basket. The lake-blue eyes of this fair creature surveyed the room, lips cracking into a sweet and sympathetic smile. The eyes turned to Rapunzel, showing only the understanding someone who knows what it is like to unexpectedly be the future monarch of a kingdom.

To sum up the last sentence, it sucked.

"Heard you needed help," Princess Aurora said with a smile. "Thought I would stop by and give you some."

Rapunzel was both confused and relieved to have a friendly face, being as Flynn was gone and her parents were on holiday. There was also, in no small amount, apprehension in her heart. One of the 3 original monarchs, one of the most powerful political figures in the Disney Kingdom, and someone who has been at the princess business for 52 years (forgive me if my math is wrong, I flunked it to learn belly dancing) had just walked into her room and asked to help her out.

"Wow," thought Rapunzel, "she probably has underwear older than me."

"Oh." Rapunzel said with a sigh, running a hand through her hair. "Yeah," she nervously said as she looked around the room. "It's a bit of a mess." The brunette ( former blonde ) was, for once, at a lost for words.

Aurora looked upon the princess, eyes holding simple beauty and energy that reminded Aurora of a young peasant girl she once knew. "You might need to dry those eyes up a bit," the blonde said as she placed the basket on a nearby seat and began looking around in it for something to help. "Does you hair need brushing?" she asked politely, though she knew it needed.

Rapunzel gave her hair a better look. Tangles were all tied in it like a elf knots, and it looked like World War I trenches had been dug in it. She cringed a bit. "Yes, _please_." Rapunzel said as she began drying her eyes and looking around for some eyeliner. Aurora arrived with the brush just in time to see Rapunzel grab the eyeliner.

"Do not even think about it, _'n arddun_." It was a more of a command than a suggestion, and the way Aurora said it just _snatched_ Rapunzel's hand and pulled it away from her eye.

"What did you just say? I mean, at the end?" Rapunzel enquired as Aurora came up and began to brush the hair into some reasonable state. After a while, she got her reply.

"_'N arddun_? It is Welsh for beautiful, and that is what you are." Aurora continued to stroke, as Rapunzel, almost instinctively, began to hum the healing incantation. "But," Aurora said as she bent down to get a better look at the young lady, "your beauty is natural. Do not, I repeat," she added to emphasize her words as she grabbed a handkerchief out of her pocket and began to clean Rapunzel's face, "do not cover it up with this make-up. Your freckles, your hair, your eyes, they are all you. Do not hide it, let it out. Now relax." she said, seeing as Rapunzel was looking a little tense at the realization, "This is not your end, it is your triumph. You will walk into those halls and show those ladies what a real woman can do." The easy way Aurora said these things, it was so kind, so motherly, so loving, that Rapunzel almost forgot that Aurora was technically 16, 2 years younger than herself. Yet when you looked at her, you would swear she was as old as **her** mother. However, this seemed more due to an almost lethargic way she moved, as if she was just flat-out tired of living.

In an instant, Rapunzel swore she saw a scar, wider than her finger and just as long, running down across Aurora's left eye. But, like all dreams and phantoms, it was gone in a flash.

"Now, _glas un_, I have to be on my way, but I shall see you in the winner's circle." Aurora stopped brushing in a second, snapping Rapunzel out of her dreaming and bringing her back into reality. The blond glided over to her basket, putting the brush away and picking it up. "Trust me," she said as she turned back to Rapunzel, who had turned around to look directly at Aurora, "You have it going. You are young, beautiful, and intelligent, a force to be reckoned with, and let no one else tell you otherwise." Her sapphires locked with Rapunzel's emeralds. "You will succeed were I have failed." With a smile and a wave, she was out the door.

For some reason, Rapunzel felt like crying.

She did not breath a single word of the mysterious coming, assuming that her mother had called Aurora over to help her out.

Later, on the way to the meeting, she got word that it was cancelled.

"Why?" Rapunzel enquired, concerned at the state of shock at her servant's countenance.

"The servants and I were afraid to tell you, you being all happy and the like last night" he stuttered. "But at the ball at Aurora's castle last night, that you and the prince didn't go to…"

"Yes, yes?" Rapunzel felt panic in her throat rise.

"It was attacked by some horrible beast. It slaughtered the guards, defeated Prince Philip in combat, and...and…"

"And what? And what?" Rapunzel near screamed, her voice cracking in sudden fear and pain.

"It killed the Lady Aurora. God help us all, but I heard it snatched her up and snapped her in two. When it got done, there was naught but blood and offal.

* * *

><p>Disclaimer: I own nothing but a bad case of the twitches and half a ton of tapioca pudding. Anyone want either?<p>

Thank you for reading this far. I want to foremost thank the reader, and secondly thank the reviewer, for were would we be without the first?

Forgive me for any mistakes, I am not an expert on make-up or Welsh. If you spot any mistakes, please do tell me so I can correct them.

Reviews would be loved and cherished, the longer the better!


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